Major flaw in Queensland health system compromises patient welfare

Queensland’s health department has allowed a disgraced British psychiatrist to slip through the cracks.

Dr Richard Seamark has been practising at Sunshine Coast Hospital for 18 months despite being banned in the UK for “jeopardising patient safety”.

Seamark was accused of failing to “adequately safeguard patients’ “wellbeing”, presenting a “significant risk” to patients and the public.

The discredited psychiatrist applied for a $400,000 senior position as Clinical Director of Mental Health at Cairns Hospital and was only denied when he disclosed his company’s insolvency to recruiters.

Health Minister Steven Miles said when the recruitment process started the “insolvency proceedings hadn’t come to fruition.”

“When they did, he disclosed that and that’s the point at which the process was suspended. Let’s not get too caught up in what’s happened.”